The spatial conditions in which we live are being determined more and more by a complex of factors lumped for convenience's sake under the heading 'globalization'. Among these are increased mobility, the free market economy, climate change, new lifestyles and mass communication. This final-year project seeks to compel reflection on such factors, researching as it does the potentials of the design and the role of the architect.

The project's practical point of departure is Maastricht council's plan to run a tunnel beneath the A2 slicing through this city. At present the motorway chops the city in two, seriously hampering urban development in the process. However, financial shortcomings have been holding up construction of the tunnel for the last 30 years. A2-Commerce is the result of looking further than just digging a tunnel. The laws of the 'globalizing world' - mobility, the economy, the characteristics of subterranean spaces - were examined and applied. It treats the tunnel not just as a passage clear across the city but at the same time as a possible underground urban extension, one with economic potential. The Department of Roads and Waterways expects 95,000 motorized vehicles to pass through it every day. That is, 95,000 potential participants in an economic process.

This golden opportunity has been further fleshed out in a design for this 'tunnel with potential'. A target group analysis produced two main groups of users: commercial and heavy traffic which can most afford such time-saving short cuts, and social-recreational and commuter traffic which can least afford them. The evolved marketing strategy elicited a counterproposal for the official Roads and Waterways A2 tunnel. This last-named government scheme proposes digging a tunnel as well as continuing to use the existing above-ground structure.

A2-Commerce by contrast entails two tunnels. The bypass (maximum speed 120 kph) is intended for commercial and heavy traffic. It offers a way clear through the city without needing to enter it. Users of this tunnel enjoy shorter travel time for which they pay a toll. The passage with its maximum speed of 50 kph serves the social-recreational traffic. This is an indirect thoroughfare with immediate underground access to the city. There is no toll to be paid for this tunnel. It works instead as a compulsory window-shopping expedition for motorists and is paid for in kind by exposing its users to seductive advertisements.

Place of education: AvB Tilburg
Specialization: architecture
Tutors: Floris Alkemade, Ola-Dele Kuku & Don Murphy